1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ignition timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to an ignition timing control apparatus for a so-called dual injection type internal combustion engine that is provided with an in-cylinder injector for injecting a fuel into a cylinder and an intake port injector for injecting a fuel into an intake port.
2. Description of the Background Art
An internal combustion engine of so-called dual injection type is known from Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-020837. This internal combustion engine includes an in-cylinder injector for injecting a fuel into a cylinder and an intake port injector for injecting a fuel into an intake manifold or intake port. According to an operation state, switching is made between these injectors for use to achieve for example stratified charge combustion in a low-load operation region and homogeneous combustion in a high-load operation region, or these injectors are simultaneously used while the fuel injection ratio between the injectors is changed to achieve homogeneous lean combustion and homogeneous stoichiometric combustion, thereby improving fuel efficiency characteristics and output characteristics.
Generally, for an internal combustion engine of the fuel injection type, in order to allow proper combustion to occur according to an operation state, a final ignition timing is determined by adding various corrective advance (or retard) values according to an engine state to a basic ignition timing value that is set in advance in association with the operation state and stored for example in a map. Ignition is caused to occur based on the determined final ignition timing for operation.
Regarding the aforementioned dual-injection-type internal combustion engine, because of the difference in injection manner, namely depending on whether the injection manner is the one in which the fuel is injected from the in-cylinder injector or the one in which the fuel is injected from the intake port injector, the temperature of an air-fuel mixture and the state of mixture of the fuel in a combustion chamber could vary. A resultant problem is that, if ignition is simply caused for operation based on an ignition timing value that is set according to an operation state, the ignition timing is improper. That is, since the combustion rate of the air-fuel mixture varies depending on whether the fuel injection manner is the fuel injection by the in-cylinder injector or the fuel injection by the intake port cylinder, the ignition timing has to be set appropriately. Otherwise, such abnormal combustion as knocking occurs or the output power is insufficient.
Further in a transitional operation state where the injection manner is switched from the injection by the in-cylinder injector or from the injection by the intake port injector or the injection ratio between these injectors is changed, the change in injection manner or injection ratio could result in a different port wall temperature and a different inner-cylinder-wall temperature as well as a different amount of fuel sticking to the port wall, the inner cylinder wall and the top wall of the piston as compared with those in a normal state. Accordingly, the temperature of the air-fuel mixture and the state of mixture of the fuel in the combustion chamber could vary. In such a state, if the ignition timing is set to the one corrected monotonously, it will differ from a proper value, which may cause knocking due to excessive advance or insufficient output power due to excessive retard, leading to degradation in fuel efficiency or the like.